Motion Picture Academy Sues Oscarwatch For Trademark Infringement

The suit, which mainly seeks injunctive relief, was filed by the Academy after a February complian that ordered Oscarwatch.com's ownerSasha Stone to cease operating under her current domain registration and threatened legal action if the order went unmet.

After that objection was filed, The Academy suggested in March that Stone might remedy the situation by switching to a different domain name and limiting any use of the name Oscarwatch to subdomains within the site.

"(But) Stone rejected the Academy's offer, and defendant Stone continues to maintain her registration of the Oscarwatch site with a bad faith intent to profit therefrom," the suit states.

Contacted by a Reuters reporter for comment, Stone said: "I am not trying to exploit the Academy's trademark to offer competing goods and services. Rather, I am offering commentary that directly addresses the Oscars awards, a topic of great interest to the general public, thanks largely to the efforts of the Academy itself. I believe that the use of (Oscarwatch) to describe commentary about the Oscars is that of fair use."